Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Plans To Require Ultra-Orthodox Jewish To Join Military Mandatory

Israeli military illustration. (Unsplash / Timon Studler)

JAKARTA - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government would find a way to end the exclusion for ultra-Orthodox Jews from Israeli military service, as his political coalition faces pressure.

"We will determine the purpose of requiring ultra-Orthodox people to become IDFs and national civil servants," Netanyahu said at a news conference, referring to the Israel Defense Forces.

"We will also determine ways to implement these goals," he continued.

Israel's Supreme Court in 2018 overturned a law that ruled out mandatory military service for ultra-Orthodox men, citing the need for joint military service burdens to be borne by the entire Israeli community.

Parliament failed to produce new regulations, while the government's suspension of ultra-Orthodox military service will end in March.

It is known that ultra-Orthodox parties have helped Netanyahu get a majority in parliament along with far-right nationalist parties. However, in the past the government has made the draft exception as a condition to remain in the coalition.

PM Netanyahu appears to have responded to a pledge made by his defense minister to veto legislation that would allow continued exceptions, unless the government reached an agreement that paved the way for ultra-Orthodox military registration.

"We recognize and support those who dedicated their lives to studying the Jewish holy book, but without physical existence, there is no spiritual existence," said Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Economists argue that the draft exemption makes some of them unnecessary in seminary and out of the world of work.

Exceptions given to ultra-Orthodox Jews have been a source of long-standing disputes, with the increasing number of secular citizens now fueled by state mobilization that costs a lot of money for the Gaza war.

Meanwhile, ultra-Orthodoxes claim the right to study in seminary instead of following military service for three years. Some say their pious lifestyle will be against military customs, while others voice ideological rejection of liberal countries.

The number of ultra-Orthodox Jews reaches 13 percent of Israel's total population, with this figure expected to reach 19 percent by 2035, due to their high birth rate.